Ladder for railway car



Dec. 25, 1951 o. M. STEVENS LADDER FOR RAILWAY CARS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 29, 1947 I INVENTOR. OZzJuer M 5Z6067Z6,

1951 o. M. STEVENS LADDER FOR RAILWAY CARS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 29, 1947 INVENTOR. Ola/er M 51606725,

Dec. 25, 1951 X o. M. STEVENS 2,580,326

LADDER FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed March 29, 1947 l 5 Sheets-Sheet s IN VEN TOR. OZwerM 52606726,

Dec. 25, 1951 o. M. STEVENS LADDER FOR RAILWAY CARS I 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 29, 194-! INVENTOR. OZwr/Z 52606 Dec. 25, 1951 o. M. STEVENS 2,580,326

LADDER FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed March 29, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 jgjzz IN V EN TOR.

gzwfim 55306725,

Patented Dec. 25, 1951 Etti' @FFNE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to railway freight car doors, particularly of the horizontally swingable type to provide means of access through the doorand depths for classification of the grain in said car; Similarly consignees of fruits and vegetatiles, for instance, require temperature readings from various parts of the car before accepting delivery.

Railway cars of this type are built to the largest dimensions possible to come within the established tunnel clearance lines, and if a permanent ladder were attached to a car or door it would increase the car width beyond such clearance lines, or decrease its width, if the clearance lines were respected.

An object of the invention is to provide a ladder construction and associate it with a horizontally swingable door of a railway car so that when the door is in open position the ladder construction will not only provide means of access to the interior of the car above the lading', but will also not increase the outside width of the car over the doors, and furthermore, when the door is in closed position the ladder construction will not interfere with the lading space in the car and will be protected from damage or pilfering. A further objectis to provide a plurality of depressions in the outer surface of the door (when in open position) and mount hand holds in such depressions with the outer surface of the respective hand holds substantially flush with the outer surface of the door.

Another object of the invention is to hang a chain ladder to the outside of a horizontally swingable door (when the door is open) which may be lowered for use and stored Withinthe door when not in use in such a way as not to interfe're with the Iading when the door is closed, and, furthermore, to provide the means which support the chain ladder from the doonwith means to form a hand held orfoot rest so that it may be used as a rung of the ladder.

A further object is to form a plurality of depressions in a metallic plate and mount hand holds in such depressions so that such assembly can be mounted upon the. door as a unit.

The term ladder used herein means handgrips,

foot rest, grab irons or similar means which may be used for thepurpose specified.

In the drawings:

. Figure 1 shows a side elevation of a portion of a railway car showing my improved ladder construction mountedon the door.

Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is similar to Figure 2 but shows the door in closed position.

Figure 4 is a section of part of a door showing the relation of my ladder construction and the component parts of the door.

Figure 5. shows the ladder construction by itself; 1. e., the. depressed metallic plate and the hand holes.

Figure 6 is a section on line 6-5 of Figure 5.

Figures '7 to 10' inclusive show a modified structure, wherein a chain ladder is added and where- Figure 7 shows a side elevation of a portion of a railway car showing the relation of the chain ladder to the other parts of the. car.

Figure 8 shows the chain ladder and its container.

Figure 9 is a section on line 9-9. of Figure 10.

Figure 10 is a. section on line Ill-I0 of Figure 9.

Figure 11 shows another modified structure.

In. the drawings, the usual parts of the car are shown, such as side wall 2 doorway 3; door 4 and hinges 5 for the door. Numeral 6 indicates the top of the lading, such as boxed perishable commodities, as indicated, or grain door for grain or other plastic material.

In the construction shown I provide a preferably thin metallic plate 9:- secured to the door by bolts 8 or otherwise and having horizontal depressions ill formed therein and a hand hold l2 mounted in each depression and secured at its ends to the metallic plate 9, preferably by welding it. The depressions are large enough for the toe of a mans shoe or to permit the handhold i2 to be grabbed by a mans hand. I also preferably providev a vertical depression is in the metallic plate ii positioned above the horizontal depressions iiii9 and a hand held or grab iron i7 mounted and secured therein similarly as described for the horizontal depressions and hand holds. y

The construction, that is the metallic plate 9 and hand holds l2 and H, are preferably assembled as aunit on the bench and applied to the car as a unit for simplicity of manufacture and application to the car.

If desired separate relatively small metallic plates may be used for each hand held and, if

desired, may be held in proper position relative to each other by a light frame, which frame may be secured to the car door. The frame, small metallic plates and the hand holds are all preferably substantially flush with the outer surface of the door.

Figure 4 show a portion of a car door 4 including the door stile l8, lining l9 and sheathing 2|. Thi Figure 4 hows how the construction is set in the door within the insulation. A very small part of the insulation is compressed. The outer surface of the hand holds l2 and I! are substantially flush with the outer face 23 of the door; that is, with the outer surfaces of the sheathing 2 l thus the ladder construction does not increase the width 25 of the car over the opposite doors when the doors are in open position, as shown in Figure 2, and furthermore, when the doors are in closed position, as shown in Figure 3, the hand hold construction does not interfere with the lading space 26 of the car, and furthermore, is protected against damage and pilfering.

I also preferably provide a sill step 39 approximately under the ladder and secured to and positioned below the wall 2 of the car. Furthermore, I provide a grab iron 3| secured to the wall of the car inside the car and above the doorway so as not to interfere with the doorway.

As shown in Figure 1 a man can step on the sill step 39, climb up the ladder (I2l2) until he can reach the top ladder rungs or the vertical hand hold I? with his right hand and then with his left hand engaging the grab iron 3| swing into the interior of the car over the lading 5.

In the modification shown in Figures 7 to 10 inclusive the bottom rung of the ladder i replaced by a metallic container 40 having a depression 4! formed therein and adapted to not only provide a hand hold and a foot rest 42, but is also adapted to support a drop chain ladder 44 and is provided with a cavity 43'for the storage of the chain ladder 44 when not in use. The Whole assembly is designed so as not to increase the overall width 25 of the car when the door is open and so that such assembly will not interfere with the lading space L when the door is closed and will also be protected from damage or pilfering when the door is closed.

When the ladder 44 is in use it is extended, as shown in Figures 7 and 8, and when not in use both the rungs 43-49 and chain 56 are folded up and stored in the cavity 43 in the container 40.

In the form shown the container 49 comprises a base plate 54 formed with a depression 4| and a retaining plate 52 secured to the base plate at 53, preferably by welding. The retaining plate 52 is formed with rearwardly extending wings 56 which, with the depression M in the base plate 5|, form a cavity 43 for reception of the ladder when not in use. The wings 56 of the retaining plate 52 are preferably secured to the base plate 5! at 57, preferably by welding. The retaining plate 52 preferably extends above the wings 56 to hold the ends of the chains in place when in storage. The upper margin of the retaining plate is folded over (42) to form a hand hold and a foot rest, and. furthermore, to stiffen the upper margin thereof. The ends of the chains are swingably held to the wings 56, respectively, by a U-bolt 60 having shoulders to engage the wings and preferably have the ends riveted over, as shown at 6 l, to keep them in place. In this arrangement even if the U-bolt 60 becomes loose it will not allow water to get into the door and damage the insulation. Drain holes are shown at 62. The distance over the opposite ends of each ladder rung 4 slightly less than the distance between the wings. Numeral 59 is a grab handle on the door lintel.

The chain ladder may be provided with one or more ladder rungs, as shown. The ladder rungs are flexibly attached to the chains, as shown at 63 and 64.

Such chain ladders are desirable when the lowest rung of the ladder (in the construction shown in Figures 1 to 6 inclusive) is too high to be reached by a mans foot from the ground or the rail 65.

Figure 11 shows a door I0 incorporating a modified structure wherein vertical frame members ll-72 are secured to each vertical stile 13-14 of the door and spaced flat plates 15 extend between and are secured to said frame members ll-12. A portion of each plate is cut out and behind such opening a pan-shaped member 16 is secured to form a depression. The perimeter I! of the pan-shaped member 76 is preferably continuously welded to the plate 15 to secure it thereto and prevent leakage. The pan may be integrally pressed in the plate 75, if desired. A horizontally disposed ladder rung 78 is secured to the plan shaped member 16 (or plate 15). A plurality of such plates 15, pan shaped members 16 and rungs 18 are disposed in vertical alignment to form a ladder. A sheathing 80 preferably of plywood, is applied over the door and, of course, is cut out over the pan shaped members 16, as shown.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claim, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

In a railway car having a horizontally swingable door for closing a doorway in a wall of said car, said door having a plurality of spaced recesses in the outer surface thereof when the door is in open position; a metallic plate having spaced horizontal depressions formed therein and a vertical depression formed therein above the horizontal depressions and rungs spanning said depressions longitudinally thereof, said plate adapted to be mounted upon said outer surface with said depressions fitting said recesses and with the outer surfaces of the rungs substantially flush with said outer surface, whereby when the door is in open position the rungs will not increase the width of the car over the doors and when the door is in closed position the rungs will not interfere with the lading space of the car.

OLIVER M. STEVENS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Germany May 20, 1933 

